Government and politics of Zardugal
The Imperial Government, formally referred to as His Imperial Majesty's Government, is the central government of the Great Empire of Zardugal. It is also commonly referred to as simply the Zardic/Zardugalian Government. The government is led by the Prime Minister, who selects all the remaining ministers. The prime minister and the other most senior ministers belong to the supreme decision-making committee, known as the Cabinet. The government ministers all sit in Parliament, and are accountable to it. The government is dependent on Parliament to make primary legislation. General elections are held every six years to elect a new Parliament unless there is a successful vote of no confidence in the government or a two-thirds vote for a snap election in the chamber in which case an election may be held sooner. After an election, the monarch (currently Emperor Felipe I) selects as prime minister the leader of the party most likely to command the confidence of the Parliament, usually by possessing a majority of MPs. Under the constitution, executive authority lies with the monarch, although this authority is exercised only by, or on the advice of, the prime minister and the cabinet. The Cabinet members advise the monarch as members of the Privy Council. In most cases, they also exercise power directly as leaders of the Government Departments, though some Cabinet positions are sinecures to a greater or lesser degree (for instance Chancellor of the Suzerainty or Lord Privy Seal). The current prime minister is Agusto Pedro Justo, who took office on December 20, 4621. He is the leader of the Unionist Party which won the most seats in the Parliament. Government in Parliament A key principle of the Zardic Constitution is that the government is responsible to Parliament. This is called responsible government. The Empire of Zardugal is a constitutional monarchy in which the reigning monarch (that is, the Emperor or Empress who is the Head of State at any given time) does not make any open political decisions. All political decisions are taken by the government and Parliament. Parliament is split into two houses: the House of Lordsand the House of Commons. The House of Commons is the lower house and is the more powerful. The House of Lords is the upper house and although it can vote to amend proposed laws, the House of Commons can usually vote to overrule its amendments. Although the House of Lords can introduce bills, most important laws are introduced in the House of Commons – and most of those are introduced by the government, which schedules the vast majority of parliamentary time in the Commons. Parliamentary time is essential for bills to be passed into law, because they must pass through a number of readings before becoming law. Prior to introducing a bill, the government may run a public consultation to solicit feedback from the public and businesses, and often may have already introduced and discussed the policy in the Emperor’s Speech, or in an election manifesto or party platform. The prime minister has always been an elected member of Parliament (MP) and therefore directly accountable to the Parliament. A similar convention applies to the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Under the Zardic system, the government is required by convention and for practical reasons to maintain the confidence of the Parliament. It requires the support of the House of Commons for the maintenance of supply (by voting through the government's budgets) and to pass primary legislation. By convention, if a government loses the confidence of the House of Commons it must either resign or a General Election is held. The support of the Lords, while useful to the government in getting its legislation passed without delay, is not vital. A government is not required to resign even if it loses the confidence of the Lords and is defeated in key votes in that House. The House of Commons is thus the Responsible house. The prime minister is held to account during Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs) which provides an opportunity for MPs from all parties to question the PM on any subject. There are also departmental questions when ministers answer questions relating to their specific departmental brief. Unlike PMQs both the cabinet ministers for the department and junior ministers within the department may answer on behalf of the government, depending on the topic of the question. During debates on legislation proposed by the government, ministers—usually with departmental responsibility for the bill—will lead the debate for the government and respond to points made by MPs or Lords. Committees of both the House of Commons and House of Lords hold the government to account, scrutinise its work and examine in detail proposals for legislation. Ministers appear before committees to give evidence and answer questions. Government ministers are also required by convention and the Ministerial Code, when Parliament is sitting, to make major statements regarding government policy or issues of national importance to Parliament. This allows MPs or Lords to question the government on the statement. When the government instead chooses to make announcements first outside Parliament, it is often the subject of significant criticism from MPs and the Speaker of the House of Commons. His Imperial Majesty’s Government and The Crown The monarch of Zardugal, currently Emperor Felipe I, is the head of state and the sovereign, but not the head of government. The monarch takes little direct part in governing the country, and remains neutral in political affairs. However, the legal authority of the state that is vested in the sovereign, known as The Crown, remains the source of the executive power exercised by the government. In addition to explicit statutory authority, in many areas the Crown also possesses a body of powers known as the Imperial Prerogative, which can be used for many purposes, from the issue or withdrawal of passports to declaration of war. By long-standing custom, most of these powers are delegated from the sovereign to various ministers or other officers of The Crown, who may use them without having to obtain the consent of Parliament. The head of the government, the prime minister, also has weekly meetings with the monarch, when he "has a right and a duty to express his views on Government matters...These meetings, as with all communications between The Emperor and his government, remain strictly confidential. Having expressed his views, The Emperor abides by the advice of his ministers." Imperial Prerogative powers include, but are not limited to, the following: Domestic Powers * The power to appoint (and also, in theory, dismiss) a prime minister. This power is exercised by the monarch himself. By convention he appoints (and is expected to appoint) the individual most likely to be capable of commanding the confidence of a majority in the House of Commons. * The power to dismiss and appoint other ministers. This power is exercised by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. * The power to assent to and enact laws by giving Imperial Assent to Bills passed by both Houses of Parliament, which is required in order for a law to (from a passed Bill) make it into the Statute Books(i.e., to become a valid law) as an Act Parliament. This is exercised by the monarch, who also theoretically has the power to refuse assent. * The power to give and to issue commissions to commissioned officers in the Armed Forces. * The power to command the Armed Forces of the Zardugal. This power is exercised by the Defense Council in the Emperor’s name. * The power to appoint members to His Imperial Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council. * The power to issue (and also to suspend, cancel, recall, impound, withdraw or revoke) Zardic passports and the general power to provide (or deny) Zardic passport facilities to Zardic citizens and Zardic nationals. This is exercised (in Zardugal, but not necessarily in the case of the Overseas Territories) by the Home Secretary. * The Imperial Prerogative of mercy although capital punishment has been abolished (thereby removing the need to use this power to issue pardons to commute a death penalty imposed, usually substituted into life imprisonment in lieu), this power is still used under rare circumstances (e.g. to remedy errors in sentencing calculation). * The power to grant (and also to cancel and annul) honours. * The power to create corporations (including the status of being a city, with its own corporation) by Royal Charter, and also to amend, replace and revoke existing charters. Foreign Powers * The power to ratify and make treaties. * The power to declare war and conclude peace with other nations. * The power to deploy the Armed Forces overseas. * The power to recognize states. * The power to credit and receive diplomats. Constitution Constitutional History For centuries, Zardugal lacked a formal, written constitution, and used a common law system of government with a heavy reliance on past norms for grounding most political actions. In the available public record, the first major constitutional push came in the 3330's when the New Democratic Party (Zardugal) began pushing for a formal Constitution which was achieved in the 3340's. The Constitution was deeply detailed and elaborated a complex system of powers. However, the Conservative Republican Party (Zardugal) was deeply opposed to the idea of a written constitution and upon taking total power in the 3350's, repealed the document in its entirety. The political right soon collapsed and wasn't resurrected until the CRP returned to power in the 3470's. Seeing the need for a constitution, calls on the right for one grew louder and louder. Finally, after the failure of the monarchy in the early 3600's, a new Constitution was established that first outlined the Federation and its powers. The most durable constitution came later with the Constitution of 3671 which provided a greater view of Zardic power and governance. After many amendments, and a turbulent history, a new constitution was inaugurated, the Constitution of 4000 which served as the supreme governing document of the country. After many centuries of being a republic, the constitution was again amended in favor of a constitutional monarchy, the Constitution of 4603. Constitution of 4603 The Constitution of 4603 is the current governing document of the Empire and outlines the powers and political structure of the country. The document is composed of articles which outline the powers and duties of the various branches of government as well as the installation of Felipe I as the legitimate Emperor of Zardugal. Legislative Branch The legislative authority, the Crown-in-Parliament, has three separate elements: the Monarch, the House of Lords, and the House of Commons. No individual may be a member of both Houses, and members of the House of Lords are legally barred from voting in elections for members of the House of Commons. Formerly, no-one could be a member of Parliament while holding an office of profit under the Crown, thus maintaining the separation of powers, but the principle has been gradually eroded. Imperial Assent of the Monarch is required for all Bills to become law, and certain delegated legislation must be made by the Monarch by Order in Council. The Crown also has executive powers which do not depend on Parliament, through prerogative powers, including the power to make treaties, declare war, award honours, and appoint officers and civil servants. In practice these are always exercised by the monarch on the advice of the Prime Minister and the other ministers of HIM Government. The Prime Minister and government are directly accountable to Parliament, through its control of public finances, and to the public, through the election of members of parliament. Executive Branch Executive power in Zardugal is exercised by the Sovereign, Emperor Felipe I, via His Imperial Majesty's Government. The monarch appoints a Prime Minister as the head of His Imperial Majesty's Government in the Great Empire of Zardugal guided by the strict convention that the Prime Minister should be the member of the House of Commons most likely to be able to form a Government with the support of that House. In practice, this means that the leader of the political party with an absolute majority of seats in the House of Commons is chosen to be the Prime Minister. If no party has an absolute majority, the leader of the largest party is given the first opportunity to form a coalition. The Prime Minister then selects the other Ministers which make up the Government and act as political heads of the various Government Departments. About twenty of the most senior government ministers make up the Cabinet and approximately 100 ministers in total comprise the government. In accordance with constitutional convention, all ministers within the government are either Members of Parliament or peers in the House of Lords. = The Prime Minister and The Cabinet = The Prime Minister is the most senior minister in the Cabinet. They are responsible for chairing Cabinet meetings, selecting Cabinet ministers (and all other positions in Her Majesty's government), and formulating government policy. The Prime Minister being the de facto leader of Zardugal, he or she exercises executive functions that are nominally vested in the sovereign (by way of the Royal Prerogatives). Theoretically, the Prime Minister is primus inter pares (i.e., Selucian for "first among equals") among their Cabinet colleagues. While the Prime Minister is the senior Cabinet Minister, they are theoretically bound to make executive decisions in a collective fashion with the other Cabinet ministers. The Cabinet, along with the PM, consists of Secretaries of State from the various government departments, the Lord High Chancellor, the Lord Privy Seal, the President of the Board of Trade, the Chancellor of the Suzerainty and Ministers without portfolio. Cabinet meetings are typically held weekly, while Parliament is in session. Judicial Branch The Judiciary of Zardugal consists of Courts and Tribunals, composed of judges and magistrates(Justices), who have the power to administer justice in the name of the Emperor of Zardugal. The Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Zardugal (Tribunal Supremo) is the highest judicial body in Zardugal. Composed of five chambers, it has cognizance of all jurisdictional orders and its rulings cannot be appealed, except to the Constitutional Court, when one of the parties claims that their constitutional rights have been infringed. Audiencia Nacional The Audiencia Nacional, based in Fortreso, has jurisdiction over the entire territory of the nation. It has four Chambers, although it is composed of 3 jurisdictions, that cover: * Appeal (no jurisdiction), will take cognizance of appeals against Criminal Jurisdiction rulings. * Criminal jurisdiction in cases pertaining to crimes against The Crown, terrorism, organized crime, counterfeiting and crimes committed in more than one jurisdiction. * Administrative jurisdiction, deals with appeal cases against resolutions of ministers, secretaries of state, the Council of Ministers and the chiefs of staff of the armed forces. * Social jurisdiction involves cases pertaining to collective bargaining agreements that cover more than the territory of one archduchy. The Audiencia Nacional also has specialized courts dealing with criminal inquiries, penitentiary surveillance and juvenile cases. Archducal Courts * High Courts of Justice The High Courts of Justice (Supera Tribunalo de Justeco) have authority over a single autonomous community, and are the highest jurisdictional body of the autonomous community without prejudice to the Supreme Court. They are divided into three Chambers covering four jurisdictional orders: * The First Chamber, or Civil and Criminal Chamber, is responsible for civil cases involving acts by the Archduke of a certain Archduchy (excluding the Arhduchy of Sakvejo), Premier of the Archduchy, members of the government council or of the legislature, and in cases of communities with their own civil law appealing against rulings by inferior courts. In the Case of Criminal Jurisdiction, to inquire, and proceed in cases related to public prosecutors, judges, magistrates, members of the legislature and government council, that relate to their activity within the archduchy. * The Second or Administrative Chamber: hears appeals against resolutions of state bodies not assigned to other courts, appeals against resolutions of the government of an archduchy or its members, appeals against resolutions of legislative bodies pertaining to administration, appeals against electoral boards and appeals against first instance rulings by administrative courts. * The Third or Social Chamber: is responsible for appeals against the rulings of first instance social courts and of cases pertaining to collective bargaining agreements that affect the territory of one archduchy. Relationship with the States Zardugal is composed of five Archduchies, Endiraho, Unkaso, Kalvere, Sakvejo and Ingomo. The powers of the Archducal governments are often defined by their state constitutions and sometimes regulated by the Constitution and other statutes. There has always been a great deal of friction between the powers of the archduchies and the HIM Government. The Archducal governments usually are governed on a manner similar to the HIM Government. An independent judiciary with an executive and legislative branch. Each subnational entity has its own Archduke/Archduchess who acts as Head of the Archduchy and a Premier as Head of the Archduchy’s Government. They also have their own Parliaments and ministries, similar in function to HIM Government. Category:Government of Zardugal Category:Government and politics of Zardugal Category:Zardugal